Naval Aircrewman (Avionics)

As a Naval Aircrewman (Avionics), you operated the communications and avionics systems that keep the nation's nuclear command-and-control link alive in the air. AWVs are the airborne systems operators on the E-6B Mercury, the Navy's TACAMO ("Take Charge And Move Out") aircraft that relays orders from the National Command Authority to the ballistic-missile submarine force. You worked the Very Low Frequency (VLF) transmission suite, the dual trailing-wire antenna reel system, and the UHF, SHF, and SATCOM links that carry survivable Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) traffic. When the Looking Glass mission is airborne, AWVs are part of the crew running the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) communications path.

This is not generic aircrew work. You managed a 200-kilowatt VLF transmitter feeding antennas that trail thousands of feet behind the aircraft, troubleshot encrypted circuits in flight with no bench to fall back on, and held strict communications-security discipline on the most sensitive traffic in the Department of Defense. The E-6B fleet flies out of Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and AWVs deploy worldwide to keep the strategic comms picture unbroken. Some AWVs also crew unmanned aircraft systems as the rating has expanded its mission set.

Civilian employers value this background because it pairs hands-on RF and avionics systems operation with the kind of disciplined, high-consequence reliability that almost no civilian training produces. You diagnosed complex electronics in real time, under pressure, where a dropped circuit was not an option. If you want to see how your rating maps to civilian work, start with our military-to-civilian career crosswalk, and compare paths with related Navy aircrew ratings like the AWO Naval Aircrewman (Operator) and the broader Naval Aircrewman community.

After my Navy time I pivoted into tech sales, and the AWV background is one of the more underrated tickets into that world. You operated SATCOM, VLF, and SHF systems on the most demanding comms platform the Navy flies. That technical credibility opens doors at companies selling secure communications, SATCOM services, and avionics systems, because you can talk to an engineering buyer as a peer instead of reading off a slide. — Brad Tachi, Navy Diver veteran & BMR founder

If you want to stay close to RF and avionics work, several civilian fields hire your exact skill set. Salary figures below are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) medians from May 2024.

Avionics Technician (O*NET 49-2091.00) is the closest direct match. These technicians install, test, and repair radar, radio, navigation, and communications systems on aircraft. BLS reports a median wage of $81,390. The work sits inside the aircraft and avionics equipment mechanics group, which BLS projects to grow about 5 percent through 2033.

Telecommunications Equipment Installer and Repairer (O*NET 49-2022.00) covers the switching, routing, and transmission gear that carries voice and data. BLS median pay is $64,310. Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairers (O*NET 49-2021.00) handle the transmitting and receiving side of two-way radio and cellular networks, which lines up tightly with your VLF and UHF transmitter experience.

Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment (O*NET 49-2093.00) maintain communications, navigation, and surveillance electronics on aircraft, ships, and other mobile platforms. BLS reports a median of $71,270. Computer Network Support Specialists (O*NET 15-1231.00) draw on the circuit-troubleshooting and systems-integration side of your background, with a BLS median of $73,340.

Be realistic about geography. Avionics and aviation electronics jobs cluster around aircraft manufacturing hubs, major airline maintenance bases, and defense contractor sites, so the strongest markets are concentrated rather than spread evenly. The telecommunications side is more geographically flexible. If you are weighing a same-field move against a federal route, the AWF Naval Aircrewman (Mechanical) page and the Air Force 1A1X1 Flight Engineer page cover adjacent aircrew civilian paths. When you are ready to put this on paper, our military resume builder turns your flight log and systems quals into language a hiring manager reads cleanly, or you can build your resume now.

Federal service rewards the AWV background heavily, and a security clearance plus airborne-comms experience is a combination that maps onto several General Schedule series. Veterans' Preference adds 5 or 10 points to your numerical rating on most competitive-service jobs, and the Veterans Recruitment Appointment authority lets agencies hire you outside the standard competitive process. Keep your DD-214 and any disability rating letter ready for that preference verification, since that is the one place those documents belong in the hiring process.

The GS-0391 Telecommunications series is the most direct fit. It covers planning and operating communications systems and aligns with your VLF, UHF, and SATCOM work. Strong entrants land at the GS-7 to GS-11 range depending on experience. The GS-0856 Electronics Technician series and the GS-0802 Engineering Technician series both value hands-on diagnosis of complex electronic systems, which is the core of what you did in flight.

Look also at GS-0855 Electronics Engineering if you finished a relevant degree, GS-2210 Information Technology Management for the network and systems side, and GS-0390 Telecommunications Processing for message and data handling roles. Agencies that run heavy comms and avionics workloads include the Naval Air Systems Command, the Defense Information Systems Agency, the FAA, and the Department of the Air Force civilian workforce. For the federal application itself, the format is its own discipline. Our federal resume builder handles the USAJobs structure, and the federal resume tips guide and Veterans' Preference breakdown walk through the details. The Army 25S Satellite Communication Systems Operator page targets several of the same GS series.

If you are staying in avionics, RF, or telecommunications, your terminology already lands. Recruiters in those fields know what a VLF transmitter and a trailing-wire antenna are. This section is for AWVs targeting careers OUTSIDE the comms and avionics specialty, where a hiring manager has never heard your rating language and needs it in plain business terms.

Lead with outcomes and systems, not acronyms. A line like "operated E-6B VLF transmission suite during TACAMO sorties" means nothing to a civilian recruiter. Rewritten as "operated a 200-kilowatt high-power transmission system supporting continuous mission-critical communications across multi-hour operations," it reads as real technical responsibility. The same logic applies to your security discipline and your real-time troubleshooting. Our 50 military terms translated to civilian language guide and the explaining military experience in interviews guide go deeper on this. When you are drafting bullets, the resume builder keeps the translation consistent across the whole document.